Dastgāh-e Māhur
About this Dastgāh
Regarding intervallic structure, Dastgāh-e Māhur is similar to Western music's Major mode and is considered joyful in its underlying emotional content. Due to this reason, there are many happy tunes in this Dastgāh. Many theorists considered Dastgāh-e Māhur the most prominent Dastgāhin in Iranian classical music after Dastgāh-e Šur. This version of Māhur has G as the first scale degree.
Some hints:
The Sequence tab below contains an annotated example of this Dastgāh. The fourth degree/tone of the scale (C in this case) is the aqaz("beginning") The pitch with which a Dastgah, Avaz or Gusheh is usually initiated. In some Dastgah, it is different from the Foroud, while in others they are the same pitch.Visit the link to learn more, finalisThe finalis or foroud is a pitch that functions as a melodic cadence's goal or destination tone and creates a sense of conclusion. The term "tonic" is also sometimes used, but some authors avoid using it because it is associated with Western music theory.Visit the link to learn more, and the starting point of the improvisation. The fifth degree/tone of the scale (D in this case) is the shahedShahed ("witness") represents a remarkably prominent pitch during music creation in a specific mode.Visit the link to learn more. The dotted line shows the area of melodic motion. Note that, in certain cases, the higher B (but not the lower one) is played as a B♭.
Learning more
Here are some resources to learn more about this tuning.
- Mohammad Reza Shajarian Sarve Chaman (musical example)
- Alizadeh, H. (2012). Theoretical foundations and structure of Persian classical music. (H. Asadi, M. Oftade, M. Bayani, A. Pourtorab, & S. Fatemi, Eds.). Ministry of Education. (in Farsi)
- Farhat, H. (2004). The Dastgāh Concept in Persian Music. Cambridge University Press.
- Khaleqi, R. (1938). A Glance at the Theory of (Persian) Music. Safi Ali-Shah Publication (in Farsi)
- Samimi Mofakham, I. (2023a). A Rational Intonation Approach to Persian Music. Živá Hudba/Living Music, 14. Prague: NAMU.
- Samimi Mofakham, I. (2023). Holographic composition technique: Revisiting the medieval treatises on Iranian music (p. 140) [Ph.D. Dissertations / Research Exposition].